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If the stunning retirement of a potential starting quarterback had a negative effect on the Toronto Argonauts, it wasn’t evident on Friday.

As quarterback hopeful Dalton Bell said when asked about his reaction to Gibran Hamdan’s retirement two days into rookie came, “It’s a sad thing, but life does go on.”

Even head coach Jim Barker saw a bright side to a decision nobody saw coming.

“When you have guys that are older guys, and he just got married, those things happen,” Barker said after a spirited workout at Mississauga’s Huron Park. “We look at it as we move forward. I thought it was interesting that the other quarterbacks all stepped up their game a bit (today).”

If the remaining four were stepping a little more lightly Friday, it was because they were sharing Hamdan’s reps. Considering their collective dearth of Canadian Football League experience, that can only be a good thing.

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They were all grateful to get them, but don’t think it’s a huge benefit.

“With one less guy, it’s a couple more reps and pretty much business as usual,” said Queen’s University product Danny Brannagan. “It doesn’t matter if there’s four guys or five guys. You have to make the most out of every rep you’re taking and make sure you’re doing everything you can to show the coaches you can play.”

The Argos got the news early Friday morning, just after Hamdan told Barker he had decided to retire from football.

“Jim and the Argos are heading in a direction where they need 100 per cent dedication and when I looked in the mirror, I knew I couldn’t deliver that,” the former Buffalo Bills backup said.

Hamdan said that at age 29 he had lost his passion for football.

Hamdan, who had been targeted by the team early last season, said his decision had nothing to do with the team or the CFL and that he is retiring from football.

Former NFL quarterback Cleo Lemon says he understands Hamdan’s position. Lemon left the Baltimore Ravens during training camp last summer to care for his ailing mother.

“I told Gibran myself, those are things you battle with all the time because you love the game so much,” he said. “But at the same time you really don’t want to hang it up, you want to keep competing, but he’s moved on in his personal life.”

Barker said he had an inkling something was up.

“He just didn’t have the pizzazz he had earlier,” Barker said. “I didn’t know he was going to retire, but I’d rather have it happen now.”

Barker said he will not look for a replacement and is happy with the four remaining quarterbacks.

“I was hoping that something would happen — I didn’t want somebody to retire — but that something would happen that things would sift out because I think they were all so even,” he said.

Barker said he will make five or six cuts before main camp opens Sunday. A surprising early casualty was sophomore non-import receiver Matt Lambros. “I just didn’t see where he was going to fit in with what we’re trying to do,” Barker said. . . . The Argos signed Ajax native Keith Godding, an undrafted wide receiver from Bishop’s.

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